Turning machines



Jan. 13, 1959 M. w. ABBERLEY ETAL I 2,867,885

I TURNING MACHINES Filed A 6, 1954 4 Sheets-Slieet 1 ABBERLE Y Attorney Jan. 13, 1959 M. w. ABBERLEY EIAL 25 3 TURNING MACHINES Filed Aug. 6, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 MWABBERLEY ST PA RKE R A.G.ELLIS Inventor:

A ltofn e y Jan. 13, 1959 M. w. ABBERLEY El'AL 2,867,885

TURNING MACHINES 4 Shee ts-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 6, 1954 MM/ABBERLEY 5. T PARKER A. G. ELLIS Inventors Attorney y 1 gal Jan. 13, 1959 M. w. ABBERLEY ETAL 2,867,885

, TURNING MACHINES Filed Aug. 6, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 MW/iBBEfiU-IY I ST PARKER 1 ,1 46 ELLIS Inventors ymaz Attorney TURNRNG MACHINES Maurice W. Abberley,-Samuel T. Parker, and Arthur (ii-Ellis, Stoke-on-Trent, England Application August 6, 1954, Serial No. 448,322

Claims. (CI. 25-24) This invention relates to turning articles of clay-ware such for example as cups.

According to the present invention the full height of the surface of the-article which is to be turned is traversed by a tool which is divided into separate sections which are simultaneously in action upon different parts of the article during the advance of the tool.

According to another aspect of the. invention a clay article is subjected to the action of turning means which removes the greater part of the material to be cut away and is then subjected to the action of finishing means which completes the turning operation, both the turning means and the finishing means being advanced upon the article in directions substantially tangential to its 7 surface.

According to a further-aspect of the invention a turning tool divided into separate sections is advanced slowly upon the surface of the article in a substantially tangential direction and at a slow speed, the sections of the tool being in action simultaneously upon diiferent parts of the article and the article is next subjected to the action of a finishing tool which acts upon the surface of the article also in a substantially. tangential direction but which is advanced at a higher speed.

Preferably the articles are carried by a series of chucks or supports through a predetermined path, to take them successively through the turning and finishing stations.

The articles may next be subjected to the action of a foot-turning tool which acts upon the base, and possibly also an edge-rounding tool which finishes the rim of the articles.

When a fragile article such as clay cup is being turned it is obviously an operation of great delicacy in order to avoid damage to the article. It is necessary to have the tool making a progressive traverse, across-the surface of the cup; it does not engage with the full height of the cup at one instant, but begins at one end and finishes at theother as it finally moves clear. Thus it can be seen that in making this traverse the tool may advance by certain distances varying according to the dimensions of the article. A possible figure for this distance of travel of the tool when turning a cup of ordinary size might be given by way of example, as two inches. Now the speed of advance of the tool is limited by practical considerations arising out of the fragile nature of the article; if the tool advance is too 'fast the article will be damaged. This combination of speed and distance of tool travel is the limiting factor in the output of a turning machine where hitherto the main turningoperation has'been done by one tool. By the present invention we divide the main turning. tool-into two or even more sections, so that when one section first engageswith the article near the top (or bottom as the case may be) the other section engages more or less simultaneously with the article about half way down. Thus the distance which the tool has to travel in making its traverse of the full height of the cup is halved. Moreover by first performing a rough turning operation and secondly a finishing operation the time factor is further reduced since both operations can be done at one time, the articles being carried successively through the turning and finishing stations, and when the further operations on the foot and rim of the article are requiredthese can be done at a third station.

A constructional form-of the invention will now be described with reference to the. accompanying drawings, in which: I

Figure 1 is ahalf seCtionalfelevation of a turret head, with associated parts.

Figure 2 isa, plan ofaGeneva mechanism for imparting intermittent limited rotary movements to the turret head.

Figure 3 is a plan showing the disposition of a series 'formed with alternate curved depressions 16 and deep narrow slots 17. A cam 18 rotating continuously by means of a spindle 19 driven byany suitable gearing from an electric motor not shown in the drawings is mounted alongside the spider. The cam 18 carries a roller 18 at one side and diametrically opposite is profiled to conform to thedepressions' 16 in the spider 15. The cam and spider, thus form a Geneva escapement by which the roller 18* engaging with one of the slots 17 impartsv a part-rotaryrmovement,amounting in the example shown to onevsixth of a circle, to the spider, followed by an interval of lost motionwhile the profiled part of the cam rides round the next depression 16. In this way the .main vertical shaft llris intermittently rotated by a limited amount, say 60. The shaft 11 has fastened to it a turret comprisinga series of radiating arms 20, in the example shown six, spaced 60 apart. Each arm carries a chuck assembly, indicated generally by the letter C. vThere are .thus six chucks, see Figure 3,. and each of them has-associated withv it a belt pulley 24, by whichrotation about its own vertical .axis can be. imparted to each chuck, in three of. the six stations to which. the chucks come. The station S is a loading station where a workpiece W is fitted to a chuck. The station S is ,the first processing station where the side surface of the workpiece is .mainly turned. The station S is the second processingstationwhere the side surface of the workpiece is finished. The station S is a trimming station .where the foot and rim of the workpiece are trimmed off to a finished contour. The station S is not related to the present invention but is. used for fitting a handleto the workpiecelif desired. The station S is the, unloading station where the workpieces leave the chucks. In theturning, finishing. and trimming stations S S3 ands? respectively, the chucks rotate by theaction of a.belt.25.engaging with the pulleys. 24. Thebelt 25 is carried ,on fixed idle pulleys 26, an adjustable idle pulley 26 and a driving pulley 27 operated by an electric motor not shown in the drawings. The idler 26 is carried'by an -arm,.29:which is swivellabl-y..adjustable to swingthe pulley, 26 -;for.adjusting the. tension of the belt 25. The workpiece is held on to the chuck during the circuit from the station S to station S by vacuum action applied to the chucks through pipes 21 but this part of the apparatus forms the subject of our co-pending application No. 448,334 and need not therefore be described here; Referring now to the turning and finishing operations, see particularly Figures 4 and 5, a tool carriage is supported on a pivot 41 mounted on a bracket 42 carried'oy a collar 43 secured around the central column 44. The carriage 40 is arranged "to make limited pivotal movements in an are which is approximately, although not exactly, concentric with the circular chuck path. This movement of the carriage is effected by a linkage 45 and cam follower 46 operated by a cam 48, and the cam is arranged and driven so that each time a chuck arrives and comes to rest in the turning station S rotating about its own axis, the linkage 45 turns a spindle 49' which operates a fork 49 engaging a pin 40* fastened to the tool carriage 40; the tool carriage 40 therefore begirls to swing in an arc, and this movement of the carriage effects the turning traverse'of the turning tool. This tool is adjustablyj' and interchangeably mounted on the carriage 40, outside the circular path of the chucks, by means of a tool holder 51 and bracket 52 slidably located in a guide block 53, and the tool is divided vertically into two separate portidnsSS, 56, one of which 55 deals with the upper half of the article. while the other 56 deals simultaneously with the lower half, the traverse being progressive and the. toolmovement in an arc but approximately tangential to the surface of the workpiece W; By this action the surface of the article is roughly turned and at the conclusion the chuck moves on clear of the tools, and-the tool carriage 40 swings back again to its original position by the action of a spring 58in readinessfor the next operation on the next article to arrive. Meanwhilethe same movements have been performed by a second tool carriage 60 which is similarly- I mounted and attached to the first one by a connecting single tool acts uponithe full height of an article at" i the station 8 in the same time as the divided tool 55,

. 56 aforesaid has acted' upon it, so that the second tool 70 performs a finishing operation onthe article which has already passed through the turning station S The article is next carried on to the next station S in which there are two tools 73,.74, Figure 1, each adjustably car-- ried by one ofa pair of rocking levers 75, 76 operated byadjustable tappets 77, 78 and push rods 79, 80 from a double cam 81 which is adapted to raise and lower the push rods 79, 80 as required, and which are driven bylmeans not shown. One tool 73 is thereby lifted up pivotally into contact with the foot of thearticle and turns the baseportion to the desired contour while the other tool 74 is lowered pivotally into contact with the rim of the article and imparts the desired rounded con-.

tour thereto. The operating rods and tools are supported by a bracket 82 and posts 83, 84. This completes the turning and trimming operations and the articles move on to station S and then to station S The tools 55, 56, 70 will be designed to suit the particular workpiece being dealt with, each tool being preferably set at an angle to the axis of rotation of the workpiece in order to achieve a progressive traverse .ofthe surface of the workpiece and also set at an angle to its line of advance a satisfactory cutting action on the in 1order to obtain clay. i

We claim:

1. A machine for turning articles of clayware comprising a chuck-for supporting the article, means for rotating the chuck, a tool mechanism including a profiled turning tool located at an angle tothe axis of rotation of the article and to the line of advancement of said tool, and means for moving the tool mechanism in a curved path so that the turning tool travels in a curved path and tangentially relative to the surface of the article and progressively engages the article initially at one part of its height and successively thereafter engages other parts along its height whereby the surface of the article is progressively turned. 7 Y

2. A machine as in claim 1, in which the tool mechanism is pivotally mounted to move "in a circular arc,

and'the tool is carried thereby to move in a circular are intersecting the article.

3. A machine as in claim 2, in which the axis of rota- 7 tion of the chuck is parallel to the pivot axis of the'tool mechanism, and the tool is located on the too-l mechanism to engage the article at the side thereof remote from the said pivot axis.

4. A m-achine for turning articles of clayware comprising a chuck for supporting the article, means for rotating the chuck, a tool mechanism including two profiled turning tools whose aggregate profile is that required to produce the contour intended on the article, each turning tool being located at anangle to the axis of rotation of the article and to the line of advancement of said tool, the two tools beinglocated for simultaneous action upon different parts of the article, and means for moving the tool mechanism in a curved path so that each turning tool travels in a curved path and tangentially relative to the surface of the article andprogressively engages the article at one part of its height and successively thereafter engages other parts of its height whereby the surface of the article is progressively turned. 1

5. A machine for turning articles of clay-ware, comprising a main support, a rotatable turret on the main suppornmeansfor step-wise rotating the turret, article supporting rotatable chucks on the turret for travel 'therewith from'station to'station, means for rotating the chucks, a first turning tool mechanism mounted on the main support adjacent a first turret station for movement in a curved path, a first profiled turning tool carried by said first tool mechanism in a curved path tangential to and intersecting the surface of an article positioned at said first station, said firstltool beingpositioned on said first tool mechanism so that it is located .at an angle to the line of its tangential advancement whereby it acts progressively upon the article along the height of the article, a second and finishing toolmechanism mounted on the main support adjacent a second turret station for movement inacurved path, a second and profiled finishing tool carried by said second tool mechanism in a curved path tangential to and intersecting the surface of an article positioned at said second station whereby it can perform a surface finishing operation on an article roughly turned at said first station and therei after advanced to said second station, and means for 'concurrently moving said first and second tool mechanisms and including parts whereby the second and finishing tool is 'moved tangentially at a greater speed than the first tool.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

